Sling 4 Ninja

I would really like to use flush rivets on my airframe ... they look better, you get a bit more performance/fuel economy from less drag, and they supposedly yield a stronger joint. Also, I'm already tool'ed up for it. But, the Sling 4 is designed around standard, dome-headed, blind rivets! What to do? Well first of all let's read up on blind rivets: Some of the things that differentiate them are: Materials used which in turn affect shear and tensile strength, as well as corrosion resistance. Their initial diameter, and the size of the hole they can fill. Their grip range. Their type, such as closed or open-ended, multi-grip, etc. etc. there are MANY MANY types of rivets from many vendors, making things far less straightforward than with a solid rivet. Unlike solid rivets, they don't fill their hole as easily and flexibly, this means that for flush rivets, the final hole, post-dimpling, has to be reamed to the proper size, which in turn means that the initia...

Well after 2-3 years of studying, researching, analyzing, wondering and much of that time spend thinking I was going to build an RV-9A ... I have ordered the empennage kit for a Sling 4! Serial number 021 is on its way! Expect the first few posts to be about showing off my garage/workshop, and then I will start studying rivets and riveting techniques with *flush* rivets, as that is one RV feature I won't want to lose, looks great, and more efficient! Will make for a longer build, but I'm not in any great hurry and I've already got all the tools ...